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YetaWF Documentation

Deploying To A Server (FTP, Automatic Blue/Green)

Overview

The DeploySite utility is necessary because Visual Studio Publish and dotnet publish are insufficient to deploy a YetaWF site. YetaWF uses symlinks heavily which can't be deployed by other tools.

For first-time deployment and more information about Blue/Green deployment, see Deploying To A Server (FTP, Blue/Green). The deployment method shown here offers an automatic way to deploy the Blue or Green site, based on the currently active site.

Deploying to a server using FTP is a two step process. First, the site is backed up locally, including SQL databases, and uploaded. The second step takes place on the server where the site is restored, again using DeploySite. All tools and config settings are uploaded so no tools need to be installed.

Prepare Yaml File

A yaml file (named DeploySite.Windows.yaml in this example) is used to define all the deployment attributes. The following is an example of a yaml file used to deploy via FTP to a server. It also backups up the SQL database yetawf which is used by the site. Multiple databases can be defined if necessary.

Databases:
  - DevDB: yetawf
    DevServer: localserver
    DevUsername: theuser
    DevPassword: thepassword
    ProdDB: yetawf-production
    ProdServer: productionserver
    ProdUsername: theuser
    ProdPassword: thepassword

Deploy:
  Type: zip
  To: C:\Temp\Website.zip
  BaseFolder: C:\Development\YetaWF
  From: C:\Temp\PublishOutput
  ConfigParm: Windows.Prod
  DetermineBlueGreen: https://yoursite.com/_hc.html
  BlueRegex: \<body\>Blue\<\/body\>
  GreenRegex: \<body\>Green\<\/body\>

FTP:
  Server: ftp://yourftpserver
  Port: 21
  User: ftpuser
  Password: ftppassword
  Copy:
    - From: .\DeploySite.Windows.yaml
      To: /DeploySite.yaml
      ReplaceBG: true
      # The following is the health check file
    - From: .\Website\wwwroot\Maintenance\_hc.html
      To: /_hc.html
      ReplaceBG: true
      # The following is the web.config file for the IIS proxy
    - From: .\web-BLUEGREEN.config
      To: /web-BLUEGREEN.config
      ReplaceBG: true
      # This is the ZIP file we're uploading
    - From: C:\Temp\Website.zip
      To: /Website.zip
      # The following are required so you can run DeploySite on the server
    - From: .\PublicTools\DeploySite\Bin\Windows\Softelvdm.DeploySite.exe
      To: /PublicTools/DeploySite/Bin/Softelvdm.DeploySite.exe
      Conditional: true
    - From: .\Restore.bat
      To: /Restore.bat

Site:
  Location: C:\Sites\YetaWF-BLUEGREEN
  Zip: C:\Sites\Website.zip
  RunFirst:
    - Command: C:\windows\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe stop site /site.name:YetaWF-BLUEGREEN
    - Command: C:\windows\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe stop apppool /apppool.name:YetaWF-BLUEGREEN
      IgnoreErrors: true
  Run:
    - Command: C:\windows\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe start apppool /apppool.name:YetaWF-BLUEGREEN
    - Command: C:\windows\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe start site /site.name:YetaWF-BLUEGREEN
    - Command: Copy /Y "Web-BLUEGREEN.config" "YetaWF-BlueGreen\Web.config"
    - Command: Del "YetaWF-Blue\wwwroot\_hc.html"
      IgnoreErrors: true
    - Command: Del "YetaWF-Green\wwwroot\_hc.html"
      IgnoreErrors: true
    - Command: Copy /Y "_hc.html"  "YetaWF-BLUEGREEN\wwwroot\_hc.html"

In this example, the root of the FTP server is C:\Sites. This means when we upload file DeploySite.Windows.yaml to /DeploySite.yaml it is saved at C:\Sites\DeploySite.yaml.

The Deploy:DetermineBlueGreen URL is used to find which site (Blue or Green) is currently running. YetaWF uses a healthcheck file (_hc.html) which contains the current site mode (Blue or Green).

For information about available options see the topic DeploySite yaml File.

Run Visual Studio Publish or dotnet publish

The first step in deploying a site is to run Visual Studio Publish or dotnet publish. In this example, the solution file is located at C:\Development\YetaWF and the published (partial) site is created at C:\Temp\PublishOutput.

Run DeploySite (Locally)

Softelvdm.DeploySite Backup yourfile.yaml

The DeploySite utility takes your partial deployed site (from C:\Temp\PublishOutput merged with C:\Development\YetaWF) and adds all JavaScript, CSS, config files, saving the result as a ZIP file at C:\Temp\Website.zip. Then the FTP,Copy: statements are executed, uploading all necessary files to the server. In this example, the root of the FTP server is C:\Sites. This means when we upload file DeploySite.Windows.yaml to /DeploySite.yaml it is saved at C:\Sites\DeploySite.yaml.

Run DeploySite (Server)

Once everything is uploaded to the server, run the DeploySite utility on the server:

Softelvdm.DeploySite Restore yourfile.yaml

The Site tag in the yaml file is used determine how the site is restored to the server. In this example the ZIP file C:\Sites\Website.zip is unzipped and the site is created in the folder C:\Sites\YetaWF.

The Site tag offers additional options, particularly the ability to run commands before and after creating the site can be useful. It could be used to start/stop IIS application pools, update database permissions, etc. For information about available options see the topic DeploySite yaml File.

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